piano
Biography:
‘The Parisian audience applauded pianist Olga Chelova's brilliant piano playing, musical temperament and rich expression.’
(Affiche Musicale D. R. Ignatov, Paris, 23 January 2020)
‘This young pianist is a polished diamond. She is a promising young artist.’
(Emder Zeitung)
‘... it was interesting, impressive and exciting to see how sensitively this exceptional young pianist did justice to the composer and his era. The most delicate pianissimo merged with the rustling of the trees outside ...’
(Ostfriesen-Zeitung)
‘... she played gently, lightly and yet with lightning speed, captivating the audience with her artistic maturity and lively performance.’
(Rhein-Zeitung)
Olga Chelova, born in Odessa, combines technical brilliance, depth, and poetic imagination in her playing. She began playing the piano at the age of four. She received her training at the legendary Stolyarsky School in Odessa, which produced world-famous musicians such as Emil Gilels and David Oistrach. At the age of seventeen, she graduated from the school with honours and played Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in her final concert – an event that marked the beginning of her international career. After studying at the University of Music, Drama, and Media in Hanover and at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, she found her decisive mentor in Professor Grigory Gruzman (University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar).
Chelova has won prizes at more than twenty international competitions in Germany, Italy, France, Lithuania, and Ukraine. She has worked with conductors such as Tadas Šileika (final round of the Druskininkai International Competition – Grand Prix for her phenomenal performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor) and Philippe Entremont, who said of her: “Olga – without any doubt – is a great talent.” Her concert activities have taken her to renowned concert halls in Europe, including the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Großes Festspielhaus in Salzburg, the Tonhalle Zurich, the Liederhalle in Stuttgart, and the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome. She has made guest appearances at international festivals in Germany, Italy, France, and Switzerland.
Her debut album was nominated in three categories for the Opus Klassik in 2022 – a recognition of her artistic independence. Critics praise her “extraordinary maturity, inner passion, and metaphysical poetry” (Musique Classique) as well as her “mental clarity and flawless virtuosity” (DIE TONKUNST).
Olga Chelova is also very active in chamber music. Since 2024, she has been performing regularly as a duo with her teacher, Professor Grigory Gruzman. They have been highly praised by the Frankfurt press and thrill audiences throughout Europe with their interplay, which is characterized by intimate closeness, palpable familiarity, and an almost magical spiritual kinship.
Chelova is the founder and artistic director of the Mörfelden Music Festival, which she has established as a platform for young artists. The festival has become a lively and indispensable part of cultural life in the twin towns of Mörfelden-Walldorf and far beyond in the Rhine-Main region. For the past two years, Olga Chelova has donated her fees from this festival to children’s hospices – as an expression of her compassion for others.
In addition to her work as a pianist, Olga Chelova is also a successful composer. Her minimalist opera and a cantata on the subject of bullying have been very well received. For her, music is an expression of a humanistic attitude – deep, clear and carried by inner truthfulness. Olga Chelova has been a Steinway Artist since 2022. Audio and film recordings of her piano playing have been made for NDR Kultur, OFTV, and Radio X. With this album, recorded on a Steinway D grand piano, Chelova fulfils a childhood dream. Growing up near the Black Sea, she wished from an early age to play all 27 études by Frédéric Chopin as a cycle – as a “model of the universe”.
Albums:
Kreisleriana – Grandes études de Paganini – 16 Waltzes (four hands):
